Top 5 Trends in Wealth Management for 2017

The wealth management industry saw unprecedented change in 2016. 2017 will see those changes accelerate. Here are the 5 top trends to look out for:

1. Millennials Beckon the Age of Robo Investing

If you don’t know about Robo Advisors, you’re probably not a millennial, but they might be the future of wealth management. Asset managers, such as Blackrock, and custodians, such as Charles Schwab, are acquiring and building robo-advisors to target the millennial investor.

Over $30 Trillion in assets will be transferred from Baby Boomers to their Gen X and Millennial children. To put that number in perspective, the US National Debt is not even $20 Trillion, and $30 Trillion would require every citizen of the US to pony up $90,000. What is your strategy for building relationships with your client’s children?

4. Low Cost Mutual Funds Fight Back As ETFs Gain Market Share

It is no longer a debate between active and passive investment strategies, it is now all about low cost investment strategies. ETFs continue to benefit from the outflow of active investments. Mutual providers took notice and reduced fees. Today low cost Mutual Funds and ETFs are seeing the inflows. Now, money managers will need to justify their returns to earn their larger fees, or as CNBC noted, it’s buh-bye to high fees.

5. Technology Empowering RIA

Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) that use advanced technology platforms have more time to focus on client acquisition and management. Failing to embrace technology will leave you behind eating someone’s dust.

What top trend do you see in Wealth Management? Share your thoughts in the comments.